A plea of nolo contendere doesn’t mean that the Defendant has chosen to plea innocent or guilty, but simply means that they don’t want to contest the allegations against them. A nolo contender plea is a way to sidestep an official admission of guilt and just accept the punishment given. While a nolo contendere plea leads to a conviction, it is a special conviction that can save you some of your civil rights and mitigate repercussions of certain traffic offenses.